Is your teenager a Witch?

Wiccan religion is more than just curses and spells

Is your darling teenage girl into witchcraft? Apparently there are tell-tale signs. According to one mother I know, who prefers to remain anonymous lest a well-meaning exorcist show up at her door to free her daughter of her demonic tendencies, "First she started wearing all black. Even black underwear. And purple nail polish. Then I noticed she was spending a hell of a lot of time on the computer... and when I went through the history, they were all sites that said things like Magickal spells or Black Magic or rituals.
"When I looked, I saw that some of these sites were really scary, one actually opened with a graphic of a face of a demon named Pazu and said something like 'Beware all ye who enter here... any spells you cast here shall come back to you 3x3x3.' Others were more benign. More for treehuggers than Wiccans. Then she started buying candles and lighting one every night before she went to bed. She's only 12 so I really don't even like the idea of her playing with matches. So I confronted her and she told me that she was a Wiccan. That she was just practicing her religion and I had no right to stop her. Oh, she's also wearing this satanic-looking silver pentacle, but I thought that was more because she was into a certain kind of music. My worry is, just who does she think she is trying to control when she is doing does these rituals? I told her, 'if you want good grades, study. Don't light a candle. You have a problem with me, talk to me. Don't like a candle.' What a weirdo!"
According to B.A. Robinson of the Religious Tolerance Organization in the United States, my friend's daughter isn't as weird as she might think. "Youth often go through a period of spiritual searching. They sometimes abandon the religion of their parents and seek a different religious group or spiritual movement that is more suited to their beliefs."
"Magadalena," a practicing High Priestess in the Wiccan cult in Toronto, goes on to explain why teenage girls might find the Wiccan religion attractive. "First of all there is a lack of sexist beliefs and practices. Both men and women are viewed as having a female and male side, and the female principle, which is often identified as 'mother earth,'" is often considered to be just as powerful and even more important than the male. Secondly, like all other aboriginal-based religion, Wiccans are deeply concerned with the environment. Thirdly, the witch has come a long way, baby... from the Salem Witch trials! She's pretty hot and tempting now!"
It does seem that the hag has been revamped over the past 30 years into a positive role model. The classic, now in syndication, is Bewitched which featured a witch married to a mortal. Nowadays, the airwaves are redolent with the presence of the "good witch" as is represented by Melissa Joan Hart in Sabrina The Teenaged Witch, Sarah Michelle Gellar in Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Shannon Doherty, Holly Marie Combs and Alyssa Milano in Charmed.
One must not also underestimate the impact of movies such as The Craft, which featured four teenagers who form their own cult; or even the popularity of Harry Potter who, after all is said and done, is actually a male witch who goes to school with other wizards to refine his supernatural talents. No wonder kids want to be witches today!
If your kid is faithfully practicing Wicca, then you're probably in the clear. According to Tamara, a high Priestess who works with the Wiccan Church in Toronto, "The Wiccan religion does have a list of 'thou shalt nots.' Most follow what is called The Wiccan Rede which states 'An it harm none, do as thou wilt.'"
In other words, do whatever you want as long as it harms nobody including yourself. The question is, "Do most children have the morality to practice spell casting and witchcraft in an ethical way?" Would they not be tempted to practice black magic in order to deal with emotions they can't handle such as jealousy, anger and lust?
"The point at which a child gets into trouble," according to Toronto psychiatrist Elinor Goodman, "is when the child starts putting power into an object instead of him or herself. They might be practicing such religions in order to boost their self-esteem, but it is questionable whether or not they are actually doing that if they light a candle. They are putting a candle into an object, not themselves. Doing a ritual might make them feel more confident and therefore the spell becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. The spell works because they believe the spell worked to make them more confident. They get into trouble when the spell doesn't work. It makes them question their faith in the higher power and in themselves. They feel even more powerless than ever before. They would also be in trouble if they were doing this as an attempt to control others, such as the behaviour of an alcoholic parent or an emotionally distant boyfriend. Instead of changing their own behaviour and learning to cope or make better choices in their lives, what they are actually doing is falling into compulsive patterns such as self-blame, depression and obsession."
One way of trying to figure out just exactly what your child is into might be to take a good look at her library. For instance, if you see The Satanic Bible by Anton Lavey there, you might be in a bit of trouble. Pocket and novelty books with titles such as How To Turn Your Boyfriend Into a Love Slave, Goddess In The Bedroom and The Little Book of Love Spells might seem innocent, but a quick perusal through their pages turned up spells that could be construed as "black magic" - spells that encouraged the tripping up of a rival, for instance.
Just because a book is about charms or spells does not mean that it is "Wiccan" in nature. "Lighting a white candle to wish for peace for the world is one thing," says George, a trance channeler and Wiccan priest. "The danger comes when they are lighting a reversing white and red candle to break up a relationship so they can have a date for the prom or whatever... love magic might work temporarily but it has karmic implications. The best magic is not goal oriented or specific. Children may not realize whatever you sow, you shall reap."
If your child insists on practicing magic, perhaps the safest book you could buy them is Teen Witch: Wicca For a New Generation by Silver Ravenwolf. According to the company publicist, this book apparently sold more copies than any other book in the company's 95-year-old history - another testimony to the witchcraft's popularity among young women these days.
According to an article in The New York Times by Ruth La Ferla, the estimate of the movement's size in the United States is about 1 million. She gets this figure from Friz Jung who created the Witch's Voice, a website at www.witch.com. About 35 percent of total visitors to the site are under 18 and 70 percent of them are under 30. Particularly popular, apparently is his web page geared to youngsters called "So you want to be a witch?"
B.A. Robinson at Religious Tolerance says, "Many teens are attracted to Wicca for all the wrong reasons. They believe the propaganda they see in movies about witchcraft. They expect that they will learn spells that will enable them to gain control over their lives and manipulate other people. They assume that Wiccans wear black clothing and scare their friends with threats of curses. Most teenagers with these beliefs drift away from Wicca as soon as they learn what it is truly about. However, some stay long enough to realize that Wicca is a religious and spiritual path with a lot to offer some people. They learn that the Wicca path is for personal spiritual growth and not for impressing others."
For most teenagers, this is a passing phase, however, it is uncertain what one should do if your child insists on practicing the occult to his or her own detriment. In the U.S., children under 18 are subject to the total direction of their children's religious direction. Canada however, according to Religious Tolerance.org, is signatory to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of the Child. Your child has some rights to practice his or her own religion, no matter what you say. However, this matter has yet to be tested in the courts.
In the meantime, until your amateur witchlet grows out of it, you might want to consider practicing some spells of your own to counteract whatever voodoo the little dickens is directing your way. Some of my favourites are "Make Your Bed Spell," "The Stop Cursing Curse" and the "Mommy Power Ritual For Total Domination and Submission of Your Child."
Just joking, of course.

Publication Date: 2001-10-21
Story Location: http://tandemnews.com/viewstory.php?storyid=528